English Wine Week At Leonardslee's English Vineyards
We're getting close to harvest time - it's a great opportunity to celebrate English Wine Week.
Mannings Heath Golf & Wine Estate was acquired in 2017, with 34 acres of vineyards planted in 2017, to produce an estimated 70,000 bottles of sparkling wine cultivars 60% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir and 10% Pinot Meunier.
You can book a golf buggy vineyard tour and tasting to see and find out more about our vineyards and English wine. So, where are we at now in the vineyard seasonal calendar? Well, the vines are flourishing, and the first release of wine is in 2024
Our English grapevines self-pollinate, after which fruit set occurs. This is when you’ll see small, green clusters of grapes on the vines. Fruit set usually begins in late June to mid-July.
Not all our vines will pollinate, so fruit set is an important indicator of our crop yield. If many of the vines aren't showing fruit clusters, the yields will be low. In the coming months, our vineyard crews will work on canopy management or leafing, to control the amount of sunlight and air that the fruit clusters receive.
This quality control process helps ensure that you get only top-notch grapes from us!
Keep an eye on our social media for more updates on our English Wine Events.
Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens
Just three miles away there is Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens, a showcase for English vineyard hospitality. There is the Michelin Star restaurant, Restaurant Interlude, and luxury vineyard accommodation and a range of attractions, with a busy calendar of events - music, arts and craft, illuminated garden events and more.
The estate was acquired in 2018 and includes 3.1 acres of vineyard, planted in 2018, to produce some 4,000 estimated bottles of wine from a small, experimental planting of Pinotage, with the first wines available at the end of 2022.
Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens in Horsham, West Sussex, has been hailed as "the finest woodland gardens in England". Sir Edmund Loder, the famed Victorian plant collector, founded the 240-acre estate.
Following two years of hard work and substantial investment by the new owners, the Streeter family, to restore the Grade I Listed gardens after eight years of closure and neglect, the estate reopened in April 2019. It was the largest garden restoration project in the United Kingdom since Heligan 30 years ago.
The gardens, set in a steep-sided valley, provide visitors with the spectacle of seven interconnected lakes, woodlands, and parkland. The estate includes an outstanding Pulham rock garden, a deer park, and a colony of wallabies.
Year-Round Flora And Fauna
The estate has beautiful rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, magnolias, and bluebells - and increasingly year-round floral displays following an extensive planting programme. The collection is extraordinary in terms of diversity and age, including numerous rare 'champion' trees that are endangered in their natural habitat.
The gardens provide a safe haven for endangered wildlife too. This includes migratory and native birds such as Kites, Great Tits, Tree Creepers, Nuthatches, Woodpeckers, and Nightingales, as well as Emperor Dragonflies, Damselflies, White Admiral and Purple Hairstreak butterflies.
Visitors can view a one-of-a-kind dolls home exhibition depicting the Edwardian-era estate and surrounding villages at a 1:12 scale. They can then enjoy a classic afternoon tea in the Grade II-listed grand house before dining at Restaurant Interlude, which serves a multi-course tasting menu created by chef Jean Delport and received its first Michelin star in 2019.
And then to cap the perfect end to the perfect day, visitors can spend overnight in the beautiful luxury accommodation that was created at Leonardslee House. Each of the ten rooms, designed by ten different top British designers, offers the ultimate in comfort and design perfection.
This is a truly unique destination on the Sussex Wine vineyard trail, offering a great day out or longer stay. The events calendar includes wine festivals, photo and art exhibitions, live music events, cooking and gardening demos, arts and crafts fairs, modelling and toy displays, and children's events and adventure trails - all part of the year-round entertainment at Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens.
